A seventh title in 10 years is proof of how incredible wealth has eroded any sense of competitive balance in the Premier League
Pep Guardiola embraces Phil Foden during the title-winning celebrations after Manchester City make it an unprecedented four in a row.Pep Guardiola embraces Phil Foden during the title-winning celebrations after Manchester City make it an unprecedented four in a row.
Finally everyone gets bored of walking around on the grass, and retreats back over the hoardings. Rostrums are assembled and carpets laid on the pitch. Expectant, beaming families gather in the tunnel. Pep Guardiola takes his bow, clad in some item of novelty apparel that will later retail in the club shop for a three‑figure sum. Then the moment itself, tickertape and pyrotechnics, a large but not overpowering roar of approval.
None of which, we should point out, is uniquely City’s fault. We can talk about the money, we can talk about the 115 charges related to alleged financial impropriety, we can talk about human rights in the United Arab Emirates. But if it hadn’t been City then, it would have been somebody else later. The point is that avarice and bad intentions have always seeped into sport through every crevice.
Eventually the game began, although even as Foden scored the opening goal you got the feeling West Ham were still to receive the message. This is, after all, a club that has spent the past few weeks wandering round as a kind of ghost entity, a largely incorporeal sporting experience, essentially indistinguishable from a piece of paper in a filing cabinet with the words “West Ham” written on it.
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